Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu and his inner cabinet have made the decision to resume the release of tax funds to the 'Palestinian' Authority.The funds were suspended after the 'Palestinians' violated the Road Map and the Oslo Accords by making an attempt to bypass negotiations with Israel with an unsuccessful unilateral declaration of statehood at the UN and a successful bid to become a full member of UNESCO.
Th eIsraeli government accompanied the release of th efunds with the feeble threat that the freeze would be implemented again if the 'Palestinians' tried to do an end run around negotiations by going to the UN again.
Only Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman opposed the move, and spoke fairly pointedly about it, but said he would not take his party out of the governmental coalition.
Lieberman said it was a mistake to transfer the money to the PA when President Mahmoud Abbas uses “the money to give stipends and apartments to murderers, and by so doing grants status and honor to the murders of Israelis and Jews, encouraging the next generation to join the ranks of the terrorists.”
He's quite correct about that. The Israelis were forced to watch as Abbas greeted convicted killers freed by Israel as part of the ransom for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as 'holy warriors' and granted them $5,000 apiece and a house. All of them received a salary from the PA while they were incarcerated. The message this sends to the 'Palestinians' is that Jew killing pays rather well, that it's something to aspire to and that the Israelis are willing to put up with it.
No doubt that Netanyahu came under considerable pressure to take this step, including from people clueless enough to make the argument that weakening Abbas and the PA was helping Hamas.They seem not to have noticed that Fatah and Hamas have resolved their differences and are now implementing the unity agreement they signed in Cairo.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if Netanyahu obtained a quid pro quo behind the scenes, most likely from the Obama Administration for acquiescing to this folly.
This is truly sad. Israel has numerous supporters in the US. When the Israeli leadership does things like this, they cut the legs out from under their supporters. Who are we to argue with the decisions made by the government of a soverign country who is allied with us?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Mr. Netanyahu did come under pressure from certain quarters. Perhaps some of this came from the Obama Administration. If it did, this would have presented an excellent opportunity for Mr. Netanyahu to change the nature of the relationship with America.
By refusing to release these funds to an enemy and defying the US this may have changed the nature of the relationship with America to one where America gives less aid to Israel. Given the highly conditional nature of this aid, without it Israel would be much freer to act in its own national interest. This additional freedom should more than outweigh the loss of American aid.
The aritcle at http://lewrockwell.com/block/block183.html pretty much articulates the problem. While I may not agree with every thing in this article, American aid to Israel is decidely a mixed blessing. It is now my considered opinion that both countries would be better off without. We need for Israel to act as a buffer between us and our Islmaic terrorist enemies. Israel can do this much better without the interference of the likes of Barack Obama, if in fact, the US actually interfered in this area of Israel's affairs which seems highly likely.